Full Metal Panic!: To Take Peace From the Earth
by Gunso
Summary: Kaname and Sousuke have taken their first tenative steps toward a meaningful relationship and all seems well. However there are dark machinations at work, plans that could shatter the only peace that Sousuke has ever known.
1. Chapter 00 Six O'Clock News

**Chapter Zero**

**The Six o Clock News

* * *

**

"Good evening. I am Genji Fukkoda, and this is Japan World News Report."

A series of graphics came onto the screen, making absolutely certain that the viewer knew exactly which cable news channel they were watching. This passed quickly, however, and the anchorman had returned.

"Topping our news tonight, JSDF forces conducting training exercises with American, British, and Australian military forces in South Korea." The image changed to a video montage of military maneuvers. "This has been a massive joint effort between the air, land, and sea forces of all countries involved." There were clips of groups in varying styles of camouflage practicing squad movements, American and British arm slaves, weapons fire, helicopters and various fixed wing aircraft taking off and landing. It looked almost like a war, except there was no enemy. "Prime Minister Takahiro has come under fire from the opposition party and various members of his own political group for his desire to strengthen the military forces of Japan, and for his closer ties with the Unites States and its allies."

This time a middle aged man with thin white hair appeared, and he acted quite perturbed, "Again the Prime Minister had flouted the pacifism that our nation embraced many years ago. The Japanese people have vowed to never again make war, yet Takahiro insists on putting us in a position to do just that! He says they are just for training, but what will come next?"

The anchorman returned, "Prime Minister Takahiro had this to say about the controversial participation in the war-game."

Takahiro, a young looking man with thick black hair, was standing next to a US Marine Major General, obviously on a military base, "As I have said in the past, Japan cannot afford to be defenseless in the face of a Communist Asia. I do not wish for any form of combat, but if it comes to us, we cannot simply depend on the Americans to save us. We must be capable of defending ourselves. This does not make us warmongers, it makes us sensible."

Anchorman Fukkoda returned to the screen, with a small picture of Takahiro next to his head. "The Prime Minister has been suffering from falling approval numbers since he won election two years ago. He had won an impressive victory, connecting especially to young voters, but now his approval rating is down to 18, with many voices calling for his removal from office. Most of this stems from his support for strengthening the SDF and forging new alliances with the West, as well as the stagnant economy. As public sentiment increasingly demands for the US Military to withdraw from Japan, PM Takahiro has publicly stated that he wishes for those forces to stay."

The middle aged commentator changed direction slightly, "In a related story, North Korea has again stated that it has concentrated a large force on the northern side of the demilitarized zone. The communist leaders of North Korea have been vocal about their suspicions that the maneuvers in South Korea by the US, Japan, and allied countries are just a cover for an invasion of their territory. American officials confirm the build up of troops, but dismiss the idea that a conflict could break out."

The anchorman seemed ready to move onto the next story, when he hesitated. He seemed to listen to something for a moment, then spoke again, "I have just been informed that we have received a letter here at Japan World News Report. It is from a group calling itself 'Free Karafuto Island', and it claims to have…" he hesitates for a moment, seeming shaken by the news he is reporting, "…it claims to have attacked the Soviet city of Komsomolsk with a biological agent. Is this accurate? The group claims that this bio-weapon was released three days ago, and that they estimate…these numbers can't be right."

The anchor seemed a little shaken by this sudden information, "Viewers, I must stress that this information is unconfirmed. I repeat, we do not know if this claim is true…"

With that, the TV switched off.

* * *

**A/N**

Sorry if this part was a little dull, but it helps me to set things up so well.

Author's Notes - This is the part where I try to explain the things that I don't expect you all to know, but would greatly enhance your understanding of my story.

JSDF – Japan Self Defense Force. This is sort of Japans military (well, as close as you are going to get in Japan). It has good equipment and technology, but it is so small that it would do little more than stall a major military power. This is why some in Japan want to strengthen their forces; they resent depending on the Americans to save them.

Komsomolsk, Soviet Union – A city on the mainland that is around 650 km north-northwest of the northern tip of Japan. It is a major defense manufacturer in the eastern USSR, with a little less than 300,000 people. It is the third largest city in the _eastern_ Soviet Union.

Karafuto Island – The Japanese name for Sakhalin Island, a Soviet controlled area. A large island that is about 50 km north of Hokkaido. The fact that the terrorists call it Karafuto pretty much broadcasts the fact that the terrorists have ties to Japan in one form or another.

I will be proceeding with the, I think, reasonable assumption that you guys have some familiarity with Full Metal Panic, one way or the other. You could probably follow the story without too much difficulty without this prior knowledge, but it would be a little more difficult.

Okay, well, that was the prologue chap. We will get to see Kaname and Sousuke starting next chapter. Give it a chance!

Thanks for reading,

Gunso


	2. Chapter 01 Not Knowing

**Chapter One**

**Not Knowing What to Make of Things**

* * *

It was familiar. 

The smell of gunpowder was on the breeze as weapons fire rang out in all directions, and the air was thick with dust. The broken pavement and pockmarked earth was covered with haphazardly laid out obstacles for him to overcome. Low walls of sandbags, broken lines of razor wire, destroyed and burning vehicles.

It was familiar.

Sousuke Sagara was running across the uneven terrain, the feel of his Gore-Tex lined combat boots striking the rocks and dirt was normal to him. The protective vest that he wore felt no heavier to him than a sweater. In his right hand was the comfortable weight of the G-36 assault rifle that Kurz Webber had given him for his last birthday. In his left hand…

This was not familiar.

There was an irregular tugging at his left arm as he ran. He felt as though he were pulling something behind him. He felt something warm grasped within his fingers, something that was grasping back. Something he knew that he did not want to let go of. He looked over his shoulder to see what he was pulling behind him.

He saw the frightened face of a teenaged girl. Her blue hair was a mess and her face was covered in smudges and a small cut on her nose. Her brown eyes were darting around slightly, but mostly were looking at him.

_What the hell is she doing here?_ The rounds zipped past them, and Sousuke knew it wouldn't be much longer before those little pieces of metal found their mark.

His heart was racing. The young soldier felt fear, fear that she would be hurt.

He could detect movement nearby. Enemy soldiers, firing what sounded exactly like AK-47s. They were in an increasingly precarious position, but he knew that if they just made it a little farther, everything would be fine. A violent explosion reverberated through the ground as the wind pushed him. Somebody had just fired an RPG, shattering a nearby truck. But they were almost there, now. They only needed to avoid the enemy for just a bit longer, then they would be safe. It was so close, he could almost taste it.

Something was wrong. His left hand was empty. Looking behind, he saw her on the ground. She was struggling to get up, but couldn't.

Skidding to a stop, Sousuke began to run back to help her. He was more terrified than he ever remembered being in his life.

She was calling to him, but he couldn't hear her voice. He called for her to hold on, that he was coming to help her, but he seemed to be moving so slowly. She froze as her eyes seemed to catch something behind him. He turned and watched as a man wearing Soviet camouflage walked slowly past him, AK-47 leveled at the girl before him.

Sousuke tried even harder to get to her, but as fast as he ran, he gained no ground. "Kaname!" he called, now becoming desperate, "Kaname, run!"

She watched with wide eyes as the Russian soldier approached. He was only a few steps away from her now. Raising the G-36 that he held to his shoulder, Sousuke pulled the trigger. Nothing. Frantically he checked the weapon and again attempted to fire, still to no avail.

Looking at the scene before him again, he felt as though his heart stopped when he saw the man pull the charging handle on his weapon, sending a round into the firing chamber. "Kaname!" he called again, his throat starting to hurt, "You have to run!"

She turned toward him, and their eyes met. He could see fear that he had never expected to see in those eyes and tears that made his heart cold. Sousuke reached his hand out as far as he could, and he saw her reach toward him.

_Flash, flash, flash._

Everything was silent. He heard nothing, but he didn't need to hear. His mind desperately didn't want to believe.

As the rounds struck her back, the expression she wore changed. The fear seemed to dissipate, and her eyes seemed to loose their focus on him. Kaname slowly sank to the soil, her face gently came to rest on the earth.

Sousuke couldn't breathe. He couldn't think straight. He saw the lifeless form of Kaname Chidori, and he felt completely without hope. He just felt like screaming.

* * *

_0312 Local Time_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Sousuke Sagara's Apartment_

"Kaname!"

Sousuke quickly found himself back on the floor as the pain in his head increased sharply. The military style cot that he had been sleeping under, as was his habit, lay on its side nearby, and the young soldier held a hand to his forehead where its metal frame had made contact, slamming a fist onto the floor with the other.

"Damn it..." he growled to himself, noticing a tight, sort of scratchy feeling in his throat. _Was I yelling in my sleep?_ _Why would I do something like…?_ His thoughts trailed off as the memories of his nightmare flashed across his mind's eye.

Kaname.

He suddenly felt very nauseous. Sitting up to go to the bathroom, his head seemed ready to explode, and he decided that the floor was the better choice.

_Why would I dream something like that? _He had experienced bad nightmares before, of course, but it had been several years since one had affected him for more than a few moments after waking. This was easily the worst he'd ever had.

After several minutes of Sousuke trying to calm himself, and trying to get the images from his dream out of his brain, he finally felt as though the pain had subsided enough to stand. Gingerly getting up from the floor, he slowly made his way to the sink, and filled a glass with water. He slowly took a few sips as he pulled a bottle of aspirin out.

Making his way over to the windows, Sousuke looked out across the space between his building and the one opposite. He looked at the unlit windows of Kaname Chidori's apartment.

He wanted to make sure she was there, to ensure that she was safe and sound, but he knew that was foolish. There was no reason to believe she was in any danger and it would just make her angry for waking her. It was only his irrational emotions trying to override his reason.

He would see her in a few hours when they went to school. Sousuke decided that he would wait until then.

Taking another drink of his water, wishing the pills he had just taken would hurry and kill the pain in his head, he realized that it would be impossible for him to go back to sleep. He was far too agitated.

Moving back away from the window, he made the decision to clean and oil the G-36 that Kurz had given him. Just in case.

* * *

_1602 (4:02 PM) Local Time _

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Jindai High School_

The bell had rung just a few moments before, and Kaname Chidori was putting the last of her history notes into her bag. It had been a difficult day for her, the most tiring that she had endured in a long time. Of course, the source of all her troubles would have been impossible for any observer to miss.

Sousuke had been acting strangely all day. From the moment that she stepped out of her building that morning, he had been zealously over-protective of her. It was almost worse than when he first arrived at their school and he hadn't known any better.

He had threatened a man on the train to school, hit a punk from another high school with a Taser before Kaname had even realized that he was there. He forced her to the other side of the street when he saw a suspicious package laying next to a building they walked past on a regular basis, then detonated the package with a grenade. He even tried to get her to put a Taser gun in her pocket! And all this was _before_ they even made it to school. The day just went downhill from there.

She glanced over at the source of her agony, and noticed him staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. His features instantly went neutral when he saw her look his way, but she knew that she had seen it. It was the same look that made her feel a little weird when they met first thing that morning, and the same look that she had noticed periodically throughout the day when he thought she wasn't paying any attention.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay at your place tomorrow night, Kana?" Kyoko Tokiwa smiled brightly as stood next to Kaname.

"Of course," she replied with a smile of her own, "We'll stop and get something to eat on the way home tomorrow, too, okay?"

"Okay," the pigtailed girl said as she patted her best friends back, "Good luck with Sousuke. See you tomorrow!" She was halfway out the door before Kaname thought to ask what that was supposed to mean. Glancing back at the cause of her exasperation, she saw him swiping his hand across his bag, getting every last piece of dust off of its surface.

Something was definitely up, and she wanted to know what it was. After all, whatever was bothering him had made her day into a hell. Most of the other students had left the classroom already, and Sousuke was obviously waiting for her to move first.

Sighing and silently asking God "_Why me?_" for the hundredth time that day, the blue haired girl picked up her book bag and left the room. As she expected, Sousuke was hot on her trail. This was just one more indication that something was wrong, since he had stopped walking behind her months ago. The fact that he wasn't beside her just added to her suspicions that something was wrong with him.

Standing silently in the train, she pretended to ignore Sousuke out of irritation that he hadn't told her what was going on. For his part, he just sat about three meters away, pretending to read the same damn newspaper that he had used when he first spied on her. The soccer player pictured on the front page seemed to mock her.

Getting off the train, she gritted her teeth as the black haired soldier followed her. Finally having had enough, she stopped suddenly, turned, and rushed him.

Sousuke was obviously at a loss as to what was actually happening, because he had his pistol out looking everywhere but at her, probably thinking she had seen a sniper or something. She easily caught him off balance when she grabbed his collar with both hands and began shaking.

"I don't know what the hell your problem is today," all her irritation and stress was flowing out in a torrent, "but I want to know right now! Tell me what is going on!"

"K-Kaname?" he sputtered as his head whipped back and forth, "I don't…"

"Sousuke…" she growled threateningly as her hand dove into his jacket and reappeared with a stun gun, "This may be non-lethal, but I will find a way to kill you with it!"

With wide eyes, Sousuke made his decision when he saw the electrical arc from the stun gun reflected in her eyes, "I can't tell you out here. We need to go somewhere secure from eavesdropping."

Her temper cooling marginally, she let go of his collar. As he adjusted his neckline and swallowed several times, she flatly spoke as she picked up her book bag, "Fine, we'll go up to my place."

Sousuke, feeling like he had just avoided a hail of bullets, took a deep breath and began to follow her. That breath caught uncomfortably in his throat as she spun on him again, waving the stun gun in his face, "I am _not_ going to fix you dinner!"

* * *

_0847 Zulu (5:47 PM Tokyo)_

_30 KM off the Eastern coast of North Korea_

_Depth 150 Meters_

_Bridge of the Tuatha de Daanan_

Teletha Testarosa was quietly listening to the pass down from Commander Mardukas as she prepared to come on watch. Usually such a thing didn't take very long, but with the joint training going on in South Korea, and the heightened state of alert by the North Koreans, things were quite a bit busier than usual in their area of operations.

It wasn't an inconvenience to her, however. She saw this as an excellent opportunity for training. Since the Tuatha de Daanan was easily the most advanced submarine in the world, it was difficult for her to find real challenges for her crew to hone their skills on. The best she could normally do was to play cat and mouse with the occasional American submarine that came through her waters, but even that was about as difficult for her ship as it was to talk and make a sandwich at the same time.

This joint exercise was making her life a little more interesting. Japan, America, Britain, and Australia had sent fleets to South Korea for the naval part of the joint training. With such a large force of ships in such a small area, the de Daanan had little difficulty finding adversaries to pit itself against.

Still, even against so many ships, it all seemed too easy. For once, she found herself wishing that she had not designed the de Daanan so well. They had to try to be detected before anything would happen.

It wasn't all bad, however. Eavesdropping had its moments. Seeing just how close she could get the ship to the keel of the USS Abraham Lincoln (it turned out to be 24 meters). She had even surfaced the ship amidst a British battle group in the middle of a moonless night for 13 minutes. She popped a dorsal hatch close to the bridge and stuck her head out into the cool ocean breeze to accentuate the event. All in all, it had been a very fun and exciting few days for the young captain. She was a little sad it would be over soon.

"…and the Dallas is somewhere in this sector, though we haven't seen her in three hours. She seemed to be searching for Soviet submarines in the area," finished Commander Richard Mardukas, her second in command, referring to an American attack sub. He had been explaining their situation to her for almost half an hour, giving her all the information he had that might be pertinent during her watch.

"Thank you, Mr. Mardukas," she said as she handed back to him the logs and maps he had been reviewing with her, "I have the bridge. Go get some rest, Commander. I'll see you in ten hours."

"Good night, ma'am," he replied, then made his way to the hatch at the back of the bridge. Just before he reached to open it, however, another man stepped through.

Lt. Commander Andrey Kalinin stepped onto the bridge, giving a respectful nod to Mardukas, and receiving one in return as they passed each other. Kalinin was the head of the ground forces that made their home on de Daanan. All of the arm slaves, ground troops, and the helicopters that supported them were under his command. Technically, they were hers, but she tended to defer to his judgment on such things.

"Madame Captain," he greeted her in his usual hard, cool voice, "I have the intelligence report ready. I apologize for the delay."

"It's not like you to be late, Mr. Kalinin," she smiled slightly, indirectly telling him not to worry about it, "If you don't mind my asking, what held you?"

"It was actually something in the report," he replied, pointing to one of the reports in the file, "It doesn't bear any relevance to our current situation, but it was bothering me. I was late because I was attempting to gather more information about it. I believe you'll find it interesting as well."

Tessa scanned over the document. "Komsomolsk? There's a great deal of military related industry there, if I remember correctly."

"That is correct," Kalinin affirmed, "The city is a quite important component for Soviet defense infrastructure. Not vital from what we can tell, but it is important. They are very secretive about what they have there."

"In the last eight hours they have moved in several battalions of infantry and armor," she said, more to herself than to him, "Estimated 20, 000 men? What could they be doing there that would require such a mobilization on such short notice? There's no reason to conduct training in the middle of an industrial city like this." She looked up at the grey haired soldier, "They can't be doing this in response to the joint training in Korea, or they would have done this days ago. This makes no sense. Why would they send a force like this to Komsomolsk when it would just disrupt the city's industrial complex?"

"If you look at the satellite images of the area," he suggested, "you might partially answer your last question."

Forgetting all the other intelligence data on the Korean operations and the allied fleets, Tessa now saw why Kalinin had been so interested in this. Two photographs were paper clipped to the report, photos that were taken by spy satellite just a few hours before. Both were the same picture, but lines and labels had been added to one so the viewer would know what they were looking at.

The image was of Komsomolsk and the surrounding area. Judging by the relatively low resolution of the picture, she knew it was not taken by a Mithril satellite, nor was it American. Possibly one of the European nations…but that wasn't really important at the moment.

The young officer stared at the image for only a few moments before she spoke, "They aren't even in the city. They look like they've set up a defensive perimeter around it. But why would they do that? Is it some kind of exercise?"

The older officer grunted slightly, "That's what I suspected at first as well. Look closely at the line they have formed around the city."

Unsure what she was looking for, she squinted as her grey eyes followed the troop lines. She didn't see what he was getting at, then she noticed it. "These tanks right here," she pointed at a spot on the image, "They look like they're facing the wrong way. They have them pointed toward the city."

"Very good, Captain," Kalinin nodded, "Because of the poor resolution on this older satellite we cannot get a clear view of most of their forces, but there are two other spots on their line – here and here – where their forces seem to be oriented toward the city."

Nodding slightly, she still wasn't sure what to make of it all, "So, if these spots aren't flukes, and the entire line is facing toward the city, what possibilities does that open up?"

"The most likely reason for such an action would be containment of the population," he stated calmly, "it could be because of an industrial accident, an insurgency of some sort, or possibly NBC contamination."

"But there's no way for us to know without more information, is there?" she asked.

"Not at this time," he responded, "However I am still making inquiries into the matter, and have requested another, higher quality satellite to gather more intelligence. I am expecting a response shortly."

"Very good, Lt. Commander," she said approvingly, "I can review the rest of the reports myself. Please go and see what else you can find out about Komsomolsk, and let me know the minute you find something."

"Aye, Madame Captain," he stood at attention then turned to return to his work.

After Kalinin had left the bridge Tessa dove into the other reports. It was nothing very surprising. The joint naval fleets were going to perform a night landing on a South Korean beach. This was to coincide with a practice bombing mission from the various air forces, and light armored units would practice repelling invaders. She thought it odd that there would be no arm slaves participating in the exercise, but it could have been for any number of reasons.

The news on North Korea was no surprise either. They continued to move their forces counter to where the South and its allies had theirs. They bellowed and threatened, but no one expected them to actually do anything. Tessa really only looked at the reports because they were in such close proximity.

Closing the folder, she spoke, "Helm, bring us to heading two-one-five, speed three-zero knots. Maintain current depth."

The helmsman repeated the order as he maneuvered the sub toward the south west. Almost all the ships training here would be moving to rendezvous for the practice beach assault. Captain Testarosa decided that would be where the day's best training would be.

"Madame Captain," came a call through the intercom.

"Yes, Mr. Kalinin," she responded, "What is it?"

"I have more information on Komsomolsk," he said rather grimly, "before I bring it to you, I recommend we place all ground teams on immediate standby."

She suddenly felt a chill. Kalinin was usually very methodical, not one to overreact to information. If he thought that they would need a ground team ready, chances were that things were about to get very serious indeed. "Very well, Lt Commander," she responded without hesitation, "What heading should we take?"

"East," he replied.

"East?" she asked, slightly confused, "East will take us…"

"Yes, ma'am," he interrupted, "That is where we will need to go."

Another chill ran through her, "Understood, please come to the bridge as soon as possible."

"I will be there shortly, Madame Captain."

With that, the comm shut off. "Helm, new heading, zero-niner-zero. Speed forty knots."

_East takes us straight to Japan, _she thought to herself. Why would they need to take response teams to Japan because of what was happening at Komsomolsk? She hoped very much that Kalinin would be able to make sense of all this, because she was having no luck at all.

* * *

_1810 (6:10 PM) Local Time_

_Tokyo, Japan_

_Kaname Chidori's Apartment_

"I don't believe this, Sousuke," she said, shaking her head, "You have been acting like a maniac all day because of some stupid dream?" It was just like him to switch to uber-military mode at the drop of a hat.

Sousuke was sitting on the couch, looking extremely uncomfortable, "This is very embarrassing, Kaname. I would appreciate it if you didn't share this information with anyone else."

Flashing an unusually large smile, she looked at him in a very predatory manner, "You want me to keep this 'classified', is that it?" He nodded, sweat visible on his brow. "Well then, I guess the only question is, what's in this for me?"

Sousuke hesitated for a moment, "If you require compensation for your silence, I can provide you with high quality armaments for an excellent price. I have several contacts who give me discounts due to the volume of goods I – urmf. What was that for?"

Kaname, who had just hurled a pillow across the room and hit him square in the face, was seconds away from throwing something more substantial. Looking around, she saw that there was an iron within reach, but decided against it. _What if the iron broke? A good iron isn't cheap._ "What the heck am I going to do with a cache of weapons?" she demanded, trying to calm herself, "I'm not a military nut like you."

"Not weapons, huh," he muttered, rubbing his chin in thought, "Hmmm, I know! I still have some contacts in the Middle East. I could have them send a hand woven Persian rug, very fine craftsmanship. Given current exchange rates, I'm sure we could get a reasonable price." He looked at her, and realized that she didn't care for that gesture either. "A price which I would cover entirely by myself. No cost to you at all," he hastily added, but to no avail.

Kaname leaned listlessly against the wall, sighing, "Sousuke, you're making this too hard. All I wanted was a little gesture."

"Gesture?" he repeated, not sure what she was trying to say.

"Yeah, just a simple gesture to make up for the pain in the butt you've been today," she spoke, "You know, like 'I'll take you to the movies', or 'Hey, let's go to dinner, I know a nice place we could go."

Sousuke spoke up hopefully, "You know a nice place? I would be willing to…"

"Shut up!" she interjected loudly, silencing him. She felt like an idiot for thinking he would understand what she wanted him to do. It was Sousuke after all. "I just wanted you to do something nice for me. I mean, I cook food for you all the time even though you never asked me too. That's a nice gesture." She quickly hardened her voice, turning her head away angrily, "But of course, if you don't appreciate it, I just won't give you any."

"N-no, I appreciate your cooking very much," he replied in earnest.

As irritated as she was with him right then, she couldn't help but feel a little better hearing a compliment, even though she practically had to force him to say it. "Well then, that's good to know," she smirked, only a little sarcasm hanging in her voice, "It's always nice to feel appreciated."

Looking over at him, she could see the cog wheels of his mind turning. Her curiosity piqued, she was about to ask what he was thinking when he spoke up first, "Perhaps I could prepare some meals for you."

Kaname smiled a little at him, "So you're saying you want to make, say, dinner for me?" He nodded. "You know how to cook proper meals?" He nodded. "And not just heated rations like last time?"

"No, I would not like a repeat of that incident," he replied with a discernible grimace, "I can prepare a few different Afghani dishes. They aren't very complicated, but they are things that I enjoyed while growing up."

Her face brightened as she nodded to him, "Alright then, if you fix me dinner, I'll keep your little dream a secret."

"Very well," he smiled a little, too, "I'll be able to procure the ingredients within a few days."

"Okay," she said as she moved into her kitchen, "for the time being I suppose we'll just have to settle for my cooking, then."

"That sounds good," he said, rubbing his eyes and the small knot on his forehead when he thought she wasn't looking.

She caught it though, and Kaname wondered about this rare sign of fatigue from the professional soldier, "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"About three hours," he replied, not seeming to be overly concerned about it, "It's nothing for me, I've gone days with only an hour or two of sleep each night."

"Three hours?" she asked, rather surprised considering how much energy he managed to expend during the day, "Why did you only sleep for three hours?"

"I was awake until midnight studying for the test this morning," he explained, "then I woke up from that, er, well I woke up at a little after three. After that I stayed up until we left for school."

Kaname wasn't sure what to think. It occurred to her that he wasn't just acting weird because of that dream, it had really bothered him. He was seriously upset about what he had seen happen to her. It pulled at her heartstrings and, after a few moments, she walked out of the kitchen and made her way over to where he was sitting on the couch. Setting herself down next to him, she leaned into his shoulder.

"Sousuke," her words were gentle, "You don't have to worry. Nothing is going to happen to me. You said all this happened on a battlefield, right?" He nodded in response. "Well, as long as you keep me away from any full blown wars that might erupt, I'll be perfectly safe."

"I suppose you're right," he agreed slowly, "I'm taking this dream far too seriously."

"Exactly," she nodded.

He looked over at her to say something, and their eyes met. He immediately lost what he was planning on telling her. Neither looked away for several seconds, then Kaname finally realized that their faces were mere centimeters from each other. Suddenly feeling hot, she quickly looked at her hands, fidgeting in her lap, and she leaned back away from him.

Sousuke realized what had happened a split second after it registered on her face. He too looked away, his body rigid while trying to maintain a calm composure. Clearing his throat, his words still seemed to come out uneasily, "Er, thank you, Kaname."

Without realizing it, she let out a small, nervous laugh, "Don't mention it."

There was another silence, even more awkward than the first. They sat next to each other on the couch, and Kaname found herself at a complete loss as to what to say or do next. She felt more and more self conscious as the seconds ticked by, and she acutely felt the butterflies flitting about in her stomach.

She felt his hand touch hers. At first she was so surprised that she didn't do anything but feel her breath catch in her lungs, unsure as to whether it was real or her imagination. This _was_ Sousuke after all. But then she felt his fingers curl under her thumb and across her palm, his own thumb dragging gently across her knuckles. Still uncertain as to whether it was real or not, but hoping that it was, she turned her hand around to press their palms together, and she softly let her thumb move back and forth across his.

Neither of the teenagers looked at each other, nor did they speak. They simply sat there, blushing like mad, and let the minutes slip by. Kaname felt a warmth in her chest that she never wanted to loose. She realized that she didn't want to let go of his hand, not ever. She knew exactly what she wanted to say to him at that moment, and what she needed him to say to her. She felt all these things that she had never admitted to herself, and knew them all to be her truth. It was all a little scary.

They both jumped as they heard a ringing sound. Kaname had heard the sound of his satellite phone before, but never had it been so unwelcome. Sousuke pulled the device out of his pocket with his free hand and stood to go into another room, probably so he would not bother her, but her hand would not let go.

She knew he was looking at her, but again her courage disintegrated and she found it impossible to even glance at him for a single moment. Her ears felt hot and she knew that she looked like a fool, but she didn't care.

The detestable phone continued to ring. Kaname knew that this was when he would tell her that he's going away for a few days and not to worry. It would be when he wandered off to fight and left her there alone.

She felt his hand tighten around hers again as he sat back down beside her. "Sagara here," he answered, professional as ever.

His face remained neutral throughout the call, and he only spoke a few times. "I see," and "Very well then." Then, "I'll meet them there, sir. Sagara out." Hanging up the phone, he took a deep breath as he turned to face her. "It's an emergency. I'm sorry, Kaname," his voice held genuine remorse.

He began to explain further, but she had already heard what she needed to hear. Putting a finger over his lips, she spoke instead, "When will you be back?"

"Most likely late tomorrow, possibly the day after," he replied.

She nodded, "Promise that you'll find me and tell me when you get back." It wasn't really a request, but not a demand either.

"I promise," he said as they stood together. Not sure what else to do, Kaname stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the embrace without a word, and they held on tightly, as if there wouldn't be another chance.

Reluctantly, they pulled away from each other as Sousuke spoke, "I have to go."

She nodded as their hands pulled away from each other, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He gave a quick nod, then left.

* * *

**A/N**

Man it has been a while since I did any real story writing. It was really hard to get this thing started. I had actually written an entirely different chapter just as long as this one, but then realized that I hated it and had to start over.

I'm hoping to have the next chapter out within a few days (since I already wrote most of it), so keep and eye out.

Anyway, author's notes!

Alright, I know that romance isn't really in the description of the fic, but this sort of happened on accident. I was just writing along, and suddenly that scene appeared. Not sure why, but don't worry. I don't have much else planed that is even remotely like that (not planned, though it may pop up from time to time).

That being said, how did it work out? I'm really hoping that they weren't OOC. I mean, there's always been something between Sousuke and Kaname, they were just waiting for something to bring it out. What do you guys think?

Things will become much more action/adventure oriented next chapter. In the end there will be a little something for everyone in this fic, plus some omake style chapters slipped in every once in a while for holidays, and maybe one or two other times that I need a little break from the serious.

I'm not sure how this worked out, but at the time I post this story it is just after midnight and now October 4, my birthday. Hazzah!

Obviously some familiarity with the FMP universe is going to be helpful, but it isn't absolutely necessary. It will definitely help to understand the dynamics between Sousuke, Kaname, Tessa and all the others.

Thank you for giving this fic a try, and I hope you continue the story as I struggle to write it. You might even check my other FMP fic while you wait!

Reviews are greatly appreciated (and almost always responded to in the authors notes of the next chapter)!

Thanks again for reading!

Gunso


	3. Chapter 02 Sense of Urgency

Chapter Two

Move With a Sense of Urgency

* * *

1909 Local Time

Tiene Yama

Just outside Sapporo, Hokkaido

Japan

The black haired man steadily made his way through the light snowfall as the sun threw the last of its rays over the mountainside. He wasn't sure if the tiny ice crystals were normal for this time of year, but then again he wasn't a local. Whether it was typical or not wasn't really a concern of his, but it seemed somehow appropriate for the place he tread upon.

He appeared to be European or American, in his early forties with relatively short hair and a shadow across his face from not shaving that morning. His clothes were simple, but functional. He wore what appeared to be hiking boots with his dark pants. A similarly dark jacket that seemed too thin for the weather was zipped all the way with the collar flipped up.

A fog appeared before his eyes each time he breathed, but he made no attempt to pull his jacket any tighter. He simply continued his slow pace onward, checking each of the gravestones as he passed them. His ability to read Japanese was sketchy at best, but he knew exactly what he was looking for. He had only been perusing the markers for fifteen minutes when he found what he was looking for.

"Hello, Ryo," he said cordially as he came to a stop in front of a particular stone. "It's been a while."

The snow covered grave was particularly humble, even in this backwoods cemetery on the side of a mountain. It was barely higher than his knee and made from extremely rough stone. At least the name seemed to have been carved by a professional. Ryo, deserved that much at least.

"I know you passed almost six months ago," he continued, "but I just never had the chance to come visit. Work's been hell lately, but you know how that is." The man's voice sounded almost like he had meant that to be funny, but his face remained like stone.

"We had always said that we should get together for drinks one day when we both retired from the game. I guess I just took too long to retire." An odd chuckle escaped his lips, "I suppose when God calls your number…"

He was interrupted by a beep coming from inside his jacket. As he unzipped the front and reached inside he spoke to the grave again, "Excuse me for a moment."

Turning away from his old friend, he activated a small device within his inside pocket. "I thought I had four days, Lambert. What's going on?" he asked seemingly no one.

Within his right ear, however, was a tiny device that had received his speech and sent it to the transceiver in the jacket pocket. That tiny earpiece responded rather quickly. "I'm sorry, Sam, but I'm going to have to cut your leave short," a barely sympathetic voice informed him.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sam responded sarcastically, "So where am I going?"

"That's the good news," Lambert replied, "The job's in Sapporo."

"Sapporo?" asked Sam, "This may be the shortest commute to work I've ever had. I could throw a rock and hit the city limit sign."

"That's why we need you on this, time is of the essence and we need a man inside five minutes ago."

The dark haired man shook his head slightly, "So why me, Lambert? The CIA and even the NSA have plenty of operatives in Japan, even up here in Hokkaido. It couldn't take that long to get someone else on it. Someone who's _not_ on leave."

"We don't have that kind of time, Sam," Lambert said ardently, "There are other forces on the move as we speak and if we wait too long we'll be finding out the story on CNN along with the rest of the damn world."

"I get the picture," Sam replied, "I'll contact you when I'm on the road. Fisher out."

Turning back to the gravestone, Sam gave a small smile, "Sorry old friend, but you know the score. I'll be back when I can. After that I'll keep the promise I made to you."

Placing his hands in his pockets, he set off across the snow, leaving the small gravestone of Ryo Tokiwa behind.

* * *

1017 Zulu (7:17 PM Tokyo Time)

Near Demilitarized Zone

North Korea

Exact Location Unknown

The cigarette smoke hung lazily inside the small place. Lights of green, yellow, red, and blue gave indications of the status of the electronic equipment that overcrowded the room.

No, calling it a room didn't give the correct impression. Compartment. Yes, compartment was what he would call it. Unless, of course, he was given the option of calling it a hell-in-the-box.

A dramatically large and bright spark went off from the device that he was working on, causing him to leap back and yelp with surprise. This caused the cigarette to tumble from his mouth and down the front of the military issue coveralls he wore.

"Damn it all!" he cried, trying to grab the one source of comfort he had in that hole. He managed to slam his elbow against the surrounding electronics racks twice and hit his head before he finally grasped the elusive white stick. Finally showing signs of something other than irritation as he sucked in the cancerous air, he let it fill his lungs and slowly let it all out through his nostrils.

He didn't really hate being a technician. Heck, he had been doing it for ten years and was actually quite good at it. What he hated were the people over him. His direct senior had always irked him. The man was an operator, not a tech. He had no idea what it took to keep all the equipment functioning. So the fool would get impatient and blame his technician when things didn't work.

_Well of course it doesn't work, you idiot. If the damn military would pay for the parts we need to maintain everything, we wouldn't have a problem!_ He really wanted to say that, to tell those idiots the truth. But such things weren't spoken in North Korea.

Besides, to be honest, things had been getting better. His fool of a superior was getting tired of constantly yelling and threatening, or else he was figuring out that his people couldn't work any faster. There was no way to know for sure.

Yes, things were starting to get just a little easier. Until the new lieutenant showed up.

Around two weeks before, their company executive officer had been 'transferred' after he had said the wrong thing to his superior. Everyone knew what transfer probably meant in that situation. Dead.

His replacement soon arrived. A new officer, obviously straight out of training, green as the trees outside. The little punk – as the technician thought of him – was loud, obnoxious, stupid, and extremely arrogant. Rumors circulated that the new XO had connections in high places, and that even the Captain in charge of the company was stepping lightly around this kid.

The technician's superior, obviously trying to look good before his new LT, suddenly came down harder than ever on his men. Forcing them into physical labor after their shift if they didn't complete their assignments each day. Thus, the technician became convinced that he must have been a terrible murderer in a past life, and that he was now making up for it.

It took only a couple of days before everyone started cutting corners in order to avoid punishment. Even the technician, who was faster at his job than anyone else in the whole battalion, was forced to ignore certain problems to make his own deadlines.

He took another pull from his cigarette as he looked at the, apparently, still electrified circuits in the radio system before him. Grunting, he went to check the breakers near the entrance. Running his finger down the line of switches, he found the one to the device he was working on. It was off.

_Son of a…they were probably in a hurry and mislabeled it._ Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before something serious happened, at the rate they were going. Something was going to have to give.

They had been on high alert for over a week, moving from place to place almost every day. Supposedly it was so they would be able to counter any South Korean forces that tried to invade, or any of her allies. The awful truth, however, was that all it was doing was stressing their equipment and their people to the limit. _Especially with that punk ass lieutenant in charge._

_Wait, what the hell is that?_ The technician smelled smoke, and it wasn't his smoke. It was coming from the rack that he had pulled out to work on.

He had to try several different methods of movement before he was able to contort himself in the cramped space so that he could see underneath the piece of equipment he had been working on, but when he did, he huffed a curse under his breath.

It was fried. There was no fixing it. It was a radio that was used to communicate directly with higher command in a combat situation. It had its cryptography gear hardwired into it, and that was ruined. He would need a whole new board.

_Or maybe someone in our sister company has one they can loan me_. He knew it was an outside chance at best, but it was still better than having to tell his superiors what happened and get half of his friends shot for incompetence, even though it wasn't their fault.

He looked at the radio again, sucking in the last drag from his cigarette. He flicked the butt onto the floor of the compartment as he mumbled to himself, "Well, we never use the damn thing anyway. Maybe they won't notice long enough for me to get the part in."

The technician decided that silence was the best course of action and, after pushing the radio back into place, lit another cigarette and left the cramped compartment. It was time for dinner, or what passed for it in the People's Army.

* * *

1923 Local Time

National Highway 5

5 KM NW of Sapporo

The white Japanese sub compact merged onto the highway, heading towards the city. After establishing a speed 20 KM/H faster than the rest of the surrounding traffic, he switched his transmitter on again as he swerved between two cars. He had less than a half meter clearance either way.

"Lambert," he called.

"We have you," the man replied, "according to your GPS signal you'll be traveling for about 10 more kilometers before you leave the highway."

"When this is over, we need to have a talk about Third Echelon's policy on paying for car rentals," he said calmly as he cut off another driver.

"What's wrong?"

"Lambert, I've driven _Power Wheels _bigger and faster than this thing," he replied, drawing a chuckle from his superior.

"So now you're driving for real, huh?" he chuckled, "Sam, you were on unofficial business, and technically you weren't even on business at all. There was no way that we could get you anymore than that. You know how expensive things are in Japan."

The agent gave a grunt, "Alright, Lambert, let's get down to business."

"Right," Lambert agreed, "Grimm will give you the details."

A woman's voice came over the line, "How's the vacation going?"

"It was fine till you guys called," he jabbed lightly.

"Well, hopefully this won't take too long," came the reply, "You heard about the bio-terror attack that hit Komsomolsk, right?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know about it. I've passed through there twice, but that was years ago."

"Was it nice?"

"Not at all," she gave a short huff of a laugh before he asked, "So what's Komsomolsk have to do with Sapporo? Did you guys find the group that claimed responsibility?"

"We think so," Grimm replied, "But they've never really done anything before that we're aware of, so nobody has ever really observed them. Since we have no info, there's no way for us to know without getting eyes on the target. You'll be looking for anything that can give us a hard connection. We need to know if the terrorists are really based out of Japan or not."

"So this is strictly intelligence gathering?" Fisher asked.

Lambert answered this time, quite adamant in his response, "Yes, intelligence only. That means no killing, Fisher." That drew a rare smile from the agent. "If you have to knock a few of them out that's fine, but don't go overboard. We don't want anyone to know we were there."

"I understand," he said as the smile faded from his face, "You said earlier that there were other forces on the move, Lambert. Who are we talking about here, someone other than the Japanese?"

Grimm replied to the question, "Actually the Japanese government is trying to keep their hands off of all this. It seems that they have contacted an outside organization to remove any signs of the terrorists and take the suspects out of the country."

Fisher thought about that for a moment. It made sense that the Japanese government wanted none of their fingerprints on this, just in case it leaked out. But an 'outside organization'? The government hired mercenaries to do this? "Who?"

"Mithril," Lambert answered.

_That makes sense._ The NSA was aware of Mithril's existence, and had even utilized their services on occasion. They were one of the few forces in the world who would be capable of acting quickly enough to resolve this without any real complications.

"They are on their way now and should arrive not long after you do. We don't have an exact time," he continued, "We're lucky we even know about their involvement. The Japanese government isn't talking to us about any of this."

"So I take it that Mithril doesn't know that I'm going to be there?"

"No they don't," came the response, "and they don't need to, either. If they realize that our government knew about their operation, they will start to review their procedures and figure out how we got our information. It's hard enough to know what the hell they are doing already."

"What about Ivan?" Sam asked.

"We're fairly certain that the Soviets don't know yet," Grimm said, "Like we said earlier, we almost stumbled on this information through blind luck. The odds that the KGB found out the way we did so quickly are slim at best. We're trying to keep an eye on them. You're coming up on your exit, by the way."

Sam screeched across two lanes of traffic and skidded into the off-ramp. A large spark leaped from the left side of the car as it briefly contacted the concrete retainer wall, looking quite dramatic in the evening darkness as he sped off the highway.

"What was that noise, Fisher?" Lambert asked.

"Nothing to worry about," Sam replied casually, "Even NASCAR drivers loose some paint every once in a while.

* * *

1930 Local Time

Jindai High School Soccer Field

Tokyo, Japan

The rear loading ramp of the Mithril MV-22 was already half open as the wheels touched down gently on the grass of the practice field. Since there was no real chance of discovery by the locals, thanks to the ECS invisible mode, there wasn't much to worry about landing in such a pubic place. Kurz just hoped that the wheels didn't leave too deep an impression in the ground, lest one of those pretty high school girls trip and hurt themselves.

His direct superior, Sgt Maj Melissa Mao was standing near the cockpit, probably going over the plan one more time before they started toward their final destination. Looking back to his right, the blonde haired sniper saw that the air crew had lowered the loading ramp further and admitted his other comrade in arms, Sgt Sousuke Sagara.

He was looking typically serious, wearing his combat fatigues and his bullet proof vest. He carried nothing else besides his sidearm, knowing that his rifle would be waiting for him on the helicopter.

Melissa was back to her seat, strapping herself in at the same time Sousuke was, sitting directly opposite her. "Sousuke," she nodded at him, "You ready?"

Sousuke quickly responded with a definitive, "Affirmative."

Kurz grinned impishly at the young sergeant seated next to him, feeling his usual irrepressible urge to give him a hard time, "So why the irritated look, Sousuke? Did we interrupt your alone time with Ka-na-me?" He knew that Sousuke had a soft spot for the Whispered girl he was assigned to, and used it to stick the uber-serious young soldier every chance he had. Not that he blamed Sousuke for his 'weakness', she was a great girl. Not to mention that she was smokin' hot. Kurz just used what he could to squeeze a little emotion out of the rock.

"I always look like this," Sousuke replied sharply. It wasn't an unusual response, to be sure, but there was something about the way he said it that made Kurz think about it for an extra few seconds. He was just about to disregard it as his imagination when he glanced over once more and saw a single bead of sweat on the side of Sousuke's face, and something in his mind clicked. The engines spooled up louder and the sounds of the rotor blades biting the air filled the compartment, though not that loud thanks to the ECS.

The blond mercenary's face went slack with surprise as he looked over at the stoic Sagara. "We really _did_ interrupt your alone time with Kaname!" he almost yelled with disbelief as the MV-22 lifted off.

Sousuke and Kurz both glanced over to see Mao checking her magazines, ensuring they were properly loaded. She didn't seem to hear anything over the din of the helicopter taking off, or if she had she wasn't showing any interest. He suddenly felt a strong yank on his collar as the black haired soldier pulled him closer. "If you tell anybody about this, Webber," he spoke in an ice cold tone, "I will kill you."

Kurz couldn't help but smile a little at this. Not necessarily at the threat itself, but what it represented. A confirmation. "Okay, Sousuke, I give you my word. I won't tell anyone," he stated, "but on one condition."

"Condition?" he asked, "Besides letting you live?"

"Yeah, besides that."

Sousuke hesitated, obviously worried what this condition might be. He finally nodded, though, "Fine, what's the condition?"

Kurz smiled large again, "Tell me what you guys did."

Eyes wide, Sousuke released his grip on the collar and looked away, "Even if you ask that, I don't know if I can answer."

"C'mon, Sousuke!" Kurz egged him on, "Did'ja get lucky?"

He looked at Kurz with confusion, "We weren't gambling, Kurz."

Shaking his head in disbelief, he tried a different approach, "Alright then, how about this? Did you wrap your arms tightly around her, causing her body to shiver with pleasure as you kissed her passionately, sliding your tongue into her mouth and…"

"No!" Sousuke shouted, not waiting for the rest of the description, "No! I didn't do anything of the kind to her!" He then spent another few seconds looking as embarrassed as Kurz had ever seen him, "What the hell is wrong with you, asking me something like that?"

_I guess it's a good thing he didn't know what I was talking about when I asked if he got lucky. He probably would have either killed me on the spot or passed out._ "Okay, calm down, man," he said with his hands defensively in front of him, "If you didn't kiss her, then what were you two doing?"

"We were," he said slowly, just barely loud enough to be heard, "We were holding hands."

Kurz continued to listen intently, but it seemed as though Sousuke was done talking. Shaking his head, he tried to get everything straight in his mind, "So you threatened to kill me if I told anyone that you were spending time holding hands with Kaname?"

"That is correct," Sousuke affirmed.

The blond haired sergeant couldn't hold it in any longer. Leaning his head back against the side of the helo, he let out a laugh that made his eyes water and his sides hurt.

"If you two have time to make jokes," the Sgt Major yelled across the cabin, "Then you have time to check your gear! Sousuke, your equipment is in there."

"Roger!" Sousuke called back, moving to grab his assault rifle and ammo.

Kurz would have fallen over laughing by then if he hadn't been strapped into his seat.

* * *

1048 Zulu (1948 Tokyo Time)

Somewhere Over the Sea of Japan

_God I hate flying in these damn things._

Petr Agapitov found himself looking around the cramped quarters within the Mi-8 transport helicopter. As large as the bird looked on the outside, they had managed to uncomfortably fill the interior with twenty men. The fact that they all carried assault rifles or heavier weapons didn't help the situation. And despite all the soldiers that had been stuffed into the helo with him, it was freezing.

It was bad enough to Petr that he had been assigned by the KGB to watch over a company of infantry men, he had always been a field agent. Watching over the loyalty and political leanings of a bunch of soldiers was not his job, as he saw it, and never had been.

It had been especially difficult when the men he had been assigned to were sent to help with the quarantine of Komsomolsk. Morale suffered greatly as they had to seal off the city, essentially condemning everyone within the city to death. The fact that no one knew who to blame made their anger and fears disperse in questionable directions. Petr understood their feelings, but he couldn't sit by and watch the men fall apart before him.

The officers had been useless, in the agent's opinion. Many were as emotional as the rest of their forces and failed miserably to provide good leadership in the face of the crisis. Agapitov had found himself taking over their jobs on occasion just to keep everything in line. _Someone must hate me, _he thought, _Yes, I must have done something to anger someone up the chain of command. That is the only reason they would have set me with such a group._

When the terrorist group revealed themselves on television, the agent thought he had finally been forgiven. Intelligence seemed to have worked a miracle in finding the suspected hiding place of these fools who wanted the Motherland to give up Sakhalin. They had determined with fair certainty that they were in northern Japan, but the politicians needed hard evidence to use as leverage internationally.

Agapitov had received the news that he would be retrieving the evidence personally only an hour prior. Unfortunately he was instructed to take some of his men with him to ensure live capture of some of the terrorists and confiscating of any equipment that would prove a connection to Komsomolsk.

Petr, of course, hated this idea. It would be too easy to be found out by the Japanese for one thing. A large transport and two Hind assault helicopters would be fairly noticeable, even with the new sound dampening equipment. He had also been informed that the skin of both helos had been covered in a radar scattering paint. This cutting edge Soviet technology, he was assured, would make their movements invisible to the Japanese.

He had his doubts, but there was little he could do. He picked out the members of the strike team himself, choosing the most talented and, more importantly, the most professional of the men he had been keeping watch over. _That's not saying much, though._

The KGB agent checked his Makarov PMM pistol, the only weapon he carried, one more time, praying again that he wouldn't have to use it. This was something that required secrecy and stealth, and if one of those men fired off a round, then things would become extremely complicated for them and for the USSR. A firefight had to be avoided if at all possible.

* * *

**A/N**

Disclaimer I forgot to do: I don't own Full Metal Panic! Nor do I own Splinter Cell.

Well, what can I say here. First of all, Sam Fisher (the main character from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell) is something I didn't originally plan for, since I'm not really a big fan of crossovers normally, but he just fits so nicely into the story that I couldn't help but add him.

There will definitely be more action next chapter. I'll just leave it at that.

I personally thought that this chapter was nothing special, as far as writing goes. I think maybe some of it seemed kind of rushed. I know I could have done better with the right preparation, but I'm stuck in a foreign country right now, and will be for several more months, so things are a little more difficult for me. All the same, I like how things are proceeding right now.

Now to answer my first (and so far only) reviewer: MJP

I really appreciate your critique. It's always good to know that your work is appreciated! I'm not sure that I understand exactly what you mean by "it needed more FMPness." Do you mean more Black Technology type stuff, or just more of an ambiance? I know that there is a whole lot of stuff going on that doesn't involve any of the FMP characters, but I am definitely trying to remedy that as soon as the story will allow. Plus the Arm Slaves probably won't be making an appearance for a little while yet, but again I'm working on it.

While I'm at it, let me respond to your review of Youth: I know what you mean by the title, I delayed posting it for four days while I tried to think of a good name. I finally settled on Youth, but didn't really care much for it. I'm not very good with naming my stories. Peace From the Earth would have been posted almost three weeks ago if I could have come up with a name. I'm not too wild about that name either, but at least I have a decent reason for calling it that. Anyway, I'm glad you liked what you saw in both stories and I hope you keep reading this one.

And to all of you reading, please drop a review! Review!

See you in the next chapter.

Gunso


	4. Chapter 03 Unwelcome Company

_Chapter 03_

_Unwelcome Company_

Darkness had settled over the city of Sapporo. On the side of one older buildings near an industrial area, a movement in the shadows could barely be seen.

Sam Fisher was climbing up a drain pipe on a side of the building opposite the industrial zone, away from the bright lights illuminating the manufacturing building and everywhere near it. There was a string of trees on that side, which had made his approach to the target much easier.

The building itself looked squat compared to its five story height. The relatively small windows made the walls seem even more overly thick than they actually were. The off white exterior looked as though it could very much use another coat of paint.

The gutter pipe he climbed was itself quite old, but relatively rust free and sturdy enough to easily hold the agents weight. The endeavor was not easy, to say the least. Climbing a five inch drain was deceptively challenging, but even in his forties Sam could do a great deal of things that the average athlete would kill himself at.

Stopping at a third floor window, he held the pipe with his right hand and leaned as far as his arm would let him. It was just barely enough for him to look inside. "Grim, I'm outside a room with several computers in it. I can see the back side of one and there's a wireless antennae."

"Good, Sam. If one of them has it, then they probably all do," she replied, "Activate your handheld and we can use it to hack their network." Still hanging precariously, he pulled out what appeared to be a PDA, but it was not ordinary in any sense of the word.

The device came to life and the agent could see the data streams racing furiously through the screen as it transmitted them via satellite back to NSA headquarters. Over a minute went by before he spoke again, "Grim, I'm not usually one to complain, but this is a pretty uncomfortable position to hold."

"Just a few more seconds," she said, "Okay, we have what we need from there. Checking the files now, but it'll be a few minutes." Fisher had already put away the device and was continuing upward. "Just wait a little while and we'll decide whether or not you need to proceed further."

"You know it's not my style to wait," he replied as he neared the top of the pipe.

Taking a quick look first, he pulled himself onto the roof of the five story structure. Still dressed in the same clothes that he had worn to the cemetery, he crouched and silently made his way across to the fire door. Like a wisp of smoke, he vanished into the interior.

He crept down the concrete stairs, careful to watch for anyone who might see him. After finding nothing but dark rooms and bits of trash everywhere on the fifth floor, which seemed to be undergoing some kind of renovation, he moved down to the fourth. Nearing the door, he heard a noise in what he assumed was a hallway. He was without a fiber optic camera since all his gear was hidden at the hotel, so he had no way to check what was happening without taking a chance.

Listening carefully, he heard some laughing a few meters from the door, young voices, and footsteps leading toward him. They were irregular, a stuttering shuffle of a walk. Whoever it was, chances were good that they were drunk. When he heard the steps pass him, he cracked the door and peered toward the laughter.

The hallway was only half lit by the fluorescent tubes above and the dim light coming through the small windows. Out of all the doors in that direction, only one had light emanating from the space beneath it. There was a faint smell that Sam thought he recognized, but quickly dismissed it. Opening his own door further, he turned and saw a shambling figure moving toward what appeared to be a bathroom.

Quickly moving into the hall, Sam made his way close to the toilet-bound young man. Just seeing him from behind, he thought the guy looked like some kind of tree-hugger. Long, scraggly hair, ragged jeans and a t-shirt that said "Turkey Leg Face Hug!" in English on the back.

Following the young man, who appeared to be around 20 years old, into the bathroom, he locked the door as the hippie began to take care of business. Feeling no need to hurry, Sam hid and let the young man finish. It wasn't necessary to make the guy pee on himself during interrogation.

Zipping his pants up, the man walked over to the sink to wash his hands. Creeping out of a nearby stall, the agent stood behind the young man, waiting for the right moment. That moment came when the Japanese man glanced up and saw the large figure looming directly behind him.

In a flash, Fisher had his arm around the neck of the terrified young man tightly enough to reduce his scream of panic to a hoarse wheeze. "Shhh," Sam hushed him, and loosened the force in his arm just enough to allow the man to breathe. "Commendable," he whispered to his captive in Japanese, "washing your hands like that. And I thought you were just another dirty hippie." The young man started to giggle uncontrollably.

The agent was confused by the unusual reaction for a moment. Suddenly noticing something, Sam sniffed the air. There was the smell of sake, as he had expected, but there was another scent also. The same thing he detected in the hallway, only now it was strong and easily identifiable.

"You're high aren't you?" Sam grinned slightly.

"I'm not high," he responded indignantly before returning to his laughter, "I am so high."

"Grim," Fisher called out at a whisper, "How much longer?"

"Not long," she replied in his ear.

_This could be fun, _he thought to himself. The idea of messing with the guy's head did have a certain appeal to it, but he thought better of it fairly quickly. There was no time to play. Besides that, he wouldn't be able to get anything reliable out of this guy, and if the smell down the hall was any indication, he wouldn't get much from his friends either.

Pulling him into a stall, Sam drew out a fighting knife from his belt. The blade was around six inches long and a tactical black color. Taking a quick step back, then lunging forward to throw the hippie off balance, he reared the knife back and hammered the bottom of the handle into the man's head. With an audible exhale, he went limp in Fisher's arms.

Quickly replacing the knife, he quietly sat the unconscious Japanese man on the toilet. Closing and locking the door, he vaulted over the top and out of the stall. Moving toward the door to the hallway, the agent was ready to go spy on the rest of the group when he heard a noise.

Stopping in his tracks, he focused on the sound, trying to place it. It was familiar, something that he had heard before, but there was something strange that was keeping him from identifying it. Whatever it was, the noise was starting to make him feel uneasy. He could tell that it was getting louder and, turning toward the window, he became convinced that it was coming from outside.

"Sam," Lambert called, "Their computers are clean, there's no evidence connecting them…"

"Shhh," Fisher hissed, not bothering to explain himself. The droning sound was louder still, and as he knocked the old handle latch on the painted over window out of place, he was starting to suspect that it was a helicopter. It still sounded strange to him, though. It was like the engine was muffled but the noise of the rotor blades was not.

Pushing the old and stubborn window open, Fisher experienced a nasty feeling in his stomach. "Damn," he whispered to himself. Abandoning stealth, he turned and made his way quickly to the door, "Lambert, we have a big problem."

"What's going on, Sam?" came the response. There was an odd digital quality to his voice, but that was the least of his worries right then.

Making a quick glance in the hallway, he moved quickly to the stairs, "There are two Mi-24s outside the building right now. One looks like he's circling and one looked like he was approaching the roof."

"Hinds?" Lambert's shock was evident in his voice, "What the hell are the Russians doing there? How did they find out so quickly?"

Stepping into the stairwell, he swung himself back against the wall in the hallway when he heard the door to the roof flung open. As he heard the clatter of weapons and boots hammering down the stairs, the sound of another door bursting open on one of the lower floors reached his ears. _They're coming in from the ground, too? _He could feel the blood starting to pump strongly through his veins as he took a deep breath to focus himself. "I don't know," the agent spoke in a deadly serious tone, "But I've got company, and lots of it."

* * *

The MV-22 began to slow down from its nearly 300 knot cruising speed as it descended into Sapporo. Flying close behind, another Osprey followed her sister ship, carrying six additional members of the Tuatha de Danaan SRT force. Still moving under ECS invisible mode, the birds made their way toward the target area.

The ground leader of the operation, Sgt Major Melissa Mao, felt an uncomfortable sensation in the pit of her stomach as the craft made its irregular descent. She knew that the less than smooth ride was not a reflection on the pilots skills. Experience told her that flying in the vicinity of mountainous terrain usually created all sorts of microbursts and wind shear, giving the flight a rough feel and occasionally causing the aircraft to loose ten or twenty feet of altitude in the span of a second or two. The northern island of Hokkaido, of course, was definitely not flat.

She was used to that sort of thing, however. Years of being ferried around on military helicopters had rendered her immune to the stomach churning effects of less than perfect flight conditions. The feeling she had was something she associated with going on a mission. Nervousness before the operation was something that she had come to accept in herself long before.

There was only a dim red light filling the cargo area, allowing Melissa to develop her night vision, though she kept her eyes closed anyway. As she breathed in through her nose, she let her mind drift to the odd smell of the cold, filtered air circulating in the cargo area. It smelled sort of like there was a nonexistent cloud of dust floating around, mixed with the light amount of ozone given off by the imperfect ECS. It was something she was familiar with, but never quite got used to, mainly because there really wasn't anything else that had quite the same odor.

"Sgt Major!" the voice of the crew chief standing before her brought her out of her rumination, "I think you'd better come see this!"

Wondering why there was an edge of anxiety in the enlisted mans voice, Melissa glanced across the cargo space at her two teammates as she unlatched her safety belt. Kurz and Sousuke both wore dark expressions as they turned toward the nearby windows and started studying the darkness outside.

Coming up to the cockpit, she put her hand on the copilot's shoulder to steady herself, "What's the situation?"

"It seems like there are already birds in the air at the primary LZ," he replied, "We can't get positive identification on them, our instruments aren't picking them up very well for some reason, but we think they may be Soviet."

"Are you sure?" she asked, "Intel said it would be tomorrow at best before they discovered this place. And besides that, what the hell are they doing flying into Japanese airspace like this? This is going to be a major international incident!"

"There," said the pilot, indicating the FLIR display in the center display monitor. The green image was grainy, but the digital zoom on their model showed them the building they were heading for growing larger, and the helos hovering around it. "Two of them, and that one looks like a Mi-24. Looks sort of like an E model, but the engine housing's shaped weird."

"They're both Mi-24s," Melissa stated as the other one circled out from behind the building, "Make for the secondary LZ and inform de Danaan of the situation. See if they know how the hell two hinds got this far into JSDFs air defense zone."

"Roger," responded the copilot, flicking a few switches on his comm equipment before keying up to transmit.

Mao had already turned and left the cockpit, heading back to her teammates. The pair looked up at her as she approached, their grim faces waiting for confirmation that there was a problem. "There are Soviet aircraft in the target area," she stated simply.

Though neither one showed much reaction to this news, she could tell that neither one had expected to hear that. She continued after only a second of pause, "Two Hinds are circling the building, so it's possible that they have unloaded soldiers in the area."

"That would be sixteen moderately armed men at most," Sousuke quickly declared, "Assuming those two Hinds are the only aircraft involved."

"What, you want more, Sousuke?" Kurz said with a sarcastic half-smile.

"I'm just saying that there might be more aircraft in the area," Sousuke stated, "It's not uncommon for Hinds to move in on a location in pairs from multiple directions. There may be two or four more hiding out as backup."

"It's possible, Sousuke," Melissa nodded, "but with that many birds in the air, the chances that they would be detected would be much greater. I doubt that there's any more of them. Besides, sixteen professional soldiers and two assault helicopters would be more than enough to take that building."

"I concur," Sousuke responded, "So what is our current plan of action?"

"We're going to the secondary LZ," she said, "It's further away, but at least it'll give us room to maneuver."

"Backup?" Kurz asked, though he likely knew the answer.

"Unlikely," Sagara shook his head, "The enemy will be gone before de Danaan could get anything here. Not even the ARX-7 could get here in time if it wasn't already standing by in a transport missile."

"It isn't," Mao said flatly, "We're on our own here. We just have to be careful and do what we can."

"Let's just hope that those Russian pilots aren't using thermal," Kurz proffered ominously. They all nodded wordlessly. As cold as the night air of Hokkaido was, their bodies would be painfully obvious to even the most basic thermal imaging systems. They wouldn't get anywhere near the target without being spotted.

"One minute!" called the crew chief.

Giving the thumbs up to the chief, she turned back to her team, "Get ready!"

Unlatching themselves, they stood from their seats. Grabbing onto hand holds as they went, the three made their way back to the rear loading ramp. They felt the deceleration as the two large propellers on the ends of the wings began to rotate upward, engine and all. As the ramp began to lower and the red light turned off, Mao sharply racked her weapon, sending the first round of the loaded magazine into the chamber and cocking the firing pin. Taking another deep breath, the feeling in her stomach disappeared, her nervousness fading from her mind. It was time to get down to business.

She could see the ground of the field that they were landing on rise up to meet the helo, and she felt a lurch as the bird set itself down in the grass. Gripping her weapon Melissa bounded forward, hopping about a half meter from the end of the ramp to the ground below.

As she jogged away from the Osprey, careful to avoid the spot where the other invisible bird should have landed, she noted how oddly soft the ground of the soccer field was. It just wasn't as hard and dry feeling as she had expected with the wintry conditions in that part of the country.

Seeing the other six members of the team appearing from behind the invisibility of the second bird, she activated the small radio that was seated in her ear, "Tewaz-2, Urzu-2, how do you hear?"

"Urzu-2, Tewaz-2, have you loud and clear," she heard as one of the six gave her what appeared to be a thumbs up, though she couldn't really tell in the darkness.

"Read you the same," she said, "Three teams of three, proceed with the mission, be careful to avoid detection."

"Roger, team three leader is Tewaz-4," came the reply.

Without bothering to signal to Webber or Sagara behind her, she set off at a run in the direction of their target building. Feeling the wind pick up behind her and a moderate increase in noise, she knew that the MV-22s were beginning to take off. An odd sound startled her, almost causing her to miss a step, and she heard Kurz start to say, "What the-?"

Mao almost yelped when ice cold water began to spray her. Slowing down greatly as she blinked the offending liquid from her eye, she heard a curse from Webber. "Why the hell do they have automatic sprinklers in a freezing ass cold place like this?"

All Sousuke said was, "Not good." Turning back, Melissa saw what he was referring to.

The water from the sprinkler system was hitting the two Ospreys. The ECS invisible mode was flickering on and off, struggling to maintain itself as the first of the two lifted off the ground and away from the spray. In a matter of seconds, however, the system had completely failed on the one still on the ground. It was plainly visible for all to see.

"Move it!" she yelled as the three of them sprinted away from the landing zone. She knew very well that even though the secondary LZ was further away from the target than the primary, they were still well within the firing range of the Hinds. As soon as the enemy noticed the transport helicopter under their nose, all hell would break loose.

Hearing the noise of the second helicopter, she looked over her shoulder as the engines roared to full power, desperately trying to escape the area. Without the ECS half the city could probably hear its takeoff, she thought to herself. It had barely risen two or three meters off the ground when she was nearly blinded by the Osprey's automatic countermeasures. Streams of white and reddish flares shot to either side of the helicopter and straight into the ground. Melissa knew that there was around ten seconds worth of flares in those dispensers. These lasted for two.

Her body cringed involuntarily as the missile struck the helpless MV-22. The sound of the explosion hit her ears hard as the pressure wave from the explosion blew all the water from the sprinklers away from the epicenter and almost knocked her off balance. Her compromised night vision barely allowed her to see one of the large rotor blades flipping and skidding across the field right past them, tossing dirt and clumps of grass on them as it ripped through the turf.

Barely able to see, she almost tripped as they kept on running. Blinking to try and regain her vision in the darkness, she felt a strong grip on her left arm. Kurz had noticed her falter and wordlessly helped her along. Feeling a strong surge of ego, she yanked her arm free and yelled over the radio, "This is Urzu-2, report!"

She could hear the tension in their voices as they responded, "Tewaz-2, check!"

"Tewaz-4, all here." She could breathe a small sigh of relief. Mao felt bad for the Osprey crew, but at least all the ground teams made it out of the open space.

They vaulted over a fence and sprinted across a narrow, one-way street. As they ran into a three story parking garage, Sousuke called out, "Here they come!"

They zipped around the ticket dispensers and finally slowed their pace when they came into the parking area itself. Slamming her back against the concrete interior wall of the garage, she crouched there for two seconds to pull the cold air into her burning lungs, then stood upright and looked over the top of the wall.

One of the Hinds raced past in the direction the first Osprey had gone, churning the air powerfully and whipping nearby trees about as it pursued its prey. She hoped that the ECS on the bird came back fully in time.

The second Hind was moving much slower. It knew they were there. Hovering nearby, it searched in the direction of the other teams. She looked at the two men beside her, both wearing similarly hard expressions, "Any ideas?"

Sousuke shook his head, still taking deep breaths, "Their armor is too strong for the weapons we have."

"Even if I hit the base of the rotor," Kurz looked like he wanted to spit, "I couldn't do anything to it with a just a 7.62 round. Even if we had Tewaz's C4 charges we couldn't get the things…"

"There's got to be something!" she yelled, feeling a strong determination to not loose.

"Move!" Sousuke yelled, throwing them all into motion. A split-second later, chunks of concrete were scattering through the air as they ran in a crouch. The Hinds 12.7mm gun was quickly chewing up the space that they had just been hiding.

The helo stopped firing at them for a few seconds before a new sound came to her. She didn't even have time to yell at them to get down before the two rockets hit.

* * *

**A/N**

I live! Sorry, but I've been quite busy over the last month or two, so I just sort of polished up what I had already written as the first half of a long chapter. I'm hoping that it turned out well, despite the cliffhanger ending.

I was going to add more details to the scene where Sousuke, Kurz, and Mao were dealing with their, er, circumstances, but I wanted to keep the frantic, slightly disorienting feel of it. I think it came across more or less the way I wanted it to, but I was getting tired of thinking so much about it, so it's going to stand the way it is unless I made a major mistake.

By the way, I can't remember if Tewaz has already been used in the FMP universe or not. If it has…well I guess that's something I'll have to change.

To all the reviewers: Thank you very much! I'm happy to see the positive feedback I'm getting and the constructive criticism that I think will help me make this a pretty good fic. I hope you guys stick around.

Gunso


End file.
